Medical image processing apparatus

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment, a medical image processing apparatus includes first specifier, second specifier, determiner and display controller. First specifier collates an ischemic region calculated from a blood vessel visualized into a three-dimensional image in a plurality of phases with a dominating region of the blood vessel, and specifies a culprit vessel in the ischemic region. Second specifier specifies a culprit stenosis in the culprit vessel based on a pressure index calculated from the blood vessel. Determiner determines a connection position to connect a bypass vessel that makes a detour around the culprit stenosis. Display controller displays the determined connection position on a display.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser.No. 14/643,088, filed Mar. 10, 2015, and claims the benefit of priorityfrom Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-046441, filed Mar. 10, 2014.The entire contents of the above-identified applications areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate generally to a medical imageprocessing apparatus.

BACKGROUND

In ischemic heart diseases, coronary occlusion or stenosis impedes theblood flow to the cardiac muscle. Shortage or stop of the blood supplyto the cardiac muscle leads to heart disorders. Patients complain ofpain or oppressive feeling in the precordia, left arm, or back. Apatient suffering from a disease of this type may be treated with one ofpharmacotherapy, PCI (catheterization), and bypass operation.

In the pharmacotherapy, the patient is administered a drug to improvethe ischemia in the heart or prevent formation of blood clots.

In the PCI, a thin tubular treatment instrument is directly insertedinto a blood vessel in which occlusion or stenosis has occurred, therebyforcibly extending the blood vessel. However, if the coronary artery hasan advanced three-vessel disease, chronic complete occlusion, or thelike, it is difficult to conduct PCI.

The bypass operation is considered for a patient who is in a severecondition and cannot have a treatment by PCI. The bypass operation is atechnique also called CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting).

In the CABG, a narrowed or occluded blood vessel is connected to anotherblood vessel (graft vessel) so as to flow the blood to the ischemic partvia the graft vessel, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15.

In FIG. 14, reference numeral 2 shows the Right coronary artery.Reference numeral 7 shows the Left coronary artery. Reference numeral 31shows the Left main trunk. Reference numeral 9 shows the Circumflexartery. Reference numeral 10 shows the Anterior descending branch.

In FIG. 15, reference numeral 32 shows the Internal thoracic arterygraft. Reference numeral 33 shows the Radial artery graft. Referencenumeral 34 shows the Great saphenous vein graft.

The graft vessel is taken from the internal thoracic artery or greatsaphenous vein. When the internal thoracic artery is used, the incidenceof restenosis is low, and the prognosis is good, as is known.

FFR (Fractional Flow Reserve) is an index used to select which one ofPCI and pharmacotherapy is to be applied. The degree of progress ofstenosis is inspected by, for example, directly inserting a pressurewire into a blood vessel. The pressure wire 35 is inserted into theblood vessel, as shown in FIG. 16, to measure pressures P_(in) andP_(out) before and after the narrow parts 36.

The FFR is defined by P_(out)/P_(in). If the FFR is lower than 0.8, PCIis selected as the treatment. If higher, pharmacotherapy is selected.However, since inserting the pressure wire into the blood vessel isinvasive, there is a demand for a noninvasive pressure measurementmethod and FFR estimation method.

There has been devised a method of calculating an FFR estimation valueby a simulation. A technique of this type inputs a blood vessel shapeacquired from modality and physical parameters such as the viscosityvalue of the blood or the like to a simulator. The FFR is estimated(calculated) by fluid analysis using Navier-Stokes equations used in CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics).

An existing simulation uses a 3D image. However, since the 3D simulationneeds a long calculation time, the simulation using a 3D image is2D-approximated, thereby greatly shortening the time necessary for thesimulation. This contrivance enables to quickly calculate the FFR on asimulation base. The FFR based on the approximate simulation is widelyrecognized as an effective index.

When CABG is selected as the treatment, it is necessary to determine theconnection position of the graft vessel in the preoperative plan. Thedoctor confirms the state of the blood vessel by diagnosticallyinterpreting medical images obtained by CTA (CT Angiography) or thelike, and determines the connection position. However, it is difficultto interpret details of the blood vessel state. Hence, the interpreteris heavily burdened, and the possibility of oversight is undeniable. Ifa stenosis on the downstream side of the connection position isoverlooked, the function of the cardiac muscle cannot recover, and theoperation fails.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a medicalimage processing system including a medical image processing apparatusaccording to the embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of a territory map storedin a territory map storage unit 102 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure ofa medical image processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example of the result of coronaryartery analysis by the medical image processing apparatus 10 shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of the result of cardiacmuscle analysis by the medical image processing apparatus 10 shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing an example of a three-dimensionalimage of a culprit vessel displayed on a display 112 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing an example of a two-dimensional imageof the culprit vessel displayed on the display 112 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of a three-dimensional imageincluding a connection position indicated by a marker;

FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of a CPR image including aconnection position indicated by a marker;

FIG. 10 is a view showing an example of an SPR image including aconnection position indicated by a marker;

FIG. 11 is a view showing an example of a three-dimensional imagerepresenting that a region where the elasticity coefficient does notsatisfy the criterion is excluded from connection position candidates;

FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of a three-dimensional imagerepresenting a connection position including a risk distribution;

FIG. 13 is a view showing an example of an SPR image that displays anFFR value and the inner diameter of a blood vessel in combination with aconnection position;

FIG. 14 is a schematic view for explaining the principle of CABG;

FIG. 15 is a schematic view for explaining the principle of CABG; and

FIG. 16 is a schematic view for explaining FFR.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, according to one embodiment, a medical image processingapparatus includes a first specifier, a second specifier, a determinerand a display controller. The first specifier collates an ischemicregion calculated from a blood vessel visualized into athree-dimensional image in a plurality of phases with a dominatingregion of the blood vessel, and specifies a culprit vessel in theischemic region. The second specifier specifies a culprit stenosis inthe culprit vessel based on a pressure index calculated from the bloodvessel. The determiner determines a connection position to connect abypass vessel that makes a detour around the culprit stenosis. Thedisplay controller displays the determined connection position on adisplay.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a medicalimage processing system including a medical image processing apparatusaccording to the embodiment. A medical image processing system 1 shownin FIG. 1 includes a medical image processing apparatus 10, a CT(Computed Tomography) apparatus 20, and a PACS (Picture Archiving andCommunication System) 50. The medical image processing apparatus 10, theCT apparatus 20, and the PACS 50 are communicably connected to eachother via a network 40. The network 40 is, for example, a LAN (LocalArea Network), a public electronic communication network, or the like.

In the embodiment, the medical image processing apparatus 10 can be usedto make a preoperative plan of CABG based on the image data of a heartas an anatomical Part. CABG is applied to a patient of an ischemic heartdisease who meets, for example, conditions (1) to (4).

(1) The left main trunk is morbid (stenosis of 50% or more).

(2) PCI is difficult to conduct (due to advanced three-vessel disease,chronic complete occlusion, or the like)

(3) The blood flow in the peripheries of coronary arteries is excellent(blood vessel inner diameter >1.5 mm) (without stenosis/irregularity)

(4) The left cardiopulmonary function has the following state (ejectionfraction (EF) is 20% or more, and left ventricle end diastolic pressure(LVEDP) is 20 mmHG or less)

An image storage unit 101 stores volume data transmitted from the CTapparatus 20 or the PACS 50 under the control of a controller 104. Thevolume data is, for example, time-series three-dimensional contrast CTimage data over a plurality of phases concerning a chest regionincluding the heart of an object.

A territory map storage unit 102 stores a territory map as shown in FIG.2. The territory map (to be referred to as a dominating map hereinafter)is mapping data that defines the relationship between each coronaryartery and the dominating region to which the coronary artery suppliesnutrition.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 shows the Superior vena cava. Referencenumeral 2 shows the Right coronary artery. Reference numeral 3 shows theDominating region. Reference numeral 4 shows the Anterior vein.Reference numeral 5 shows the Marginal branch. Reference numeral 6 showsthe Aorta. Reference numeral 7 shows the Left coronary artery. Referencenumeral 8 shows the Great cardiac vein. Reference numeral 9 shows theCircumflex artery. Reference numeral 10 shows the Anterior descendingbranch.

A communication interface 103 is connected to the network 40 to enablecommunication between the medical image processing apparatus 10 and theCT apparatus 20 or the PACS 50.

A heart region extraction unit 105 extracts a heart region from volumedata by heart outline extraction processing or the like.

By, for example, threshold processing by a CT value corresponding to thecontrast medium concentration, a cardiac muscle analyzer 106 extracts acardiac muscle region from the heart region extracted by the heartregion extraction unit 105. The cardiac muscle analyzer 106 alsoexecutes cardiac muscle perfusion analysis. That is, the cardiac muscleanalyzer 106 generates a time concentration curve concerning thecontrast medium for each pixel (or for each spot) in the extractedcardiac muscle region. The cardiac muscle analyzer 106 calculates, basedon the time concentration curve, the blood flow that moves during theperiod from the inflow to the outflow of the contrast medium for eachpixel (or for each spot).

For example, in imaging using the CT apparatus, the perfusioninformation of an organ can be visualized from a change in the CT valueobtained by a nonionic contrast medium infused into the patient. Hence,according to CT perfusion analysis, a time-rate change in the CT image(volume data) formed from, for example, 512×512 pixels can be measuredfrom a change in the CT value on a pixel basis, and the blood flow orthe like can be expressed as numerical data based on the result. Onecolor map representing the perfusion information (for example, bloodflow) of the organ is thus generated from CT images in a plurality ofphases.

In addition, the cardiac muscle analyzer 106 extracts an ischemic regionfrom the spatial distribution of calculated blood flows by thresholdprocessing.

A coronary artery analyzer 107 extracts a plurality of coronary arteriesfrom the heart region extracted by the heart region extraction unit 105.The coronary artery analyzer 107 extracts at least one narrow part fromeach of the extracted coronary arteries. More specifically, the coronaryartery analyzer 107 analyzes the anatomical structure of coronaryarteries or the plaque properties along the center line or internal wallof each coronary artery, and extracts volume data about the coronaryarteries. With this processing, each coronary artery and a narrow partlocated on the inner wall of the coronary artery are extracted.

Detailed examples of the plaque properties are a lipid, serumcholesterol level, hardness, calcification level, and fibrous coat(Thin-cap).

A culprit vessel specifier 108 specifies a culprit vessel by collatingthe ischemic region extracted by the cardiac muscle analyzer 106 withthe dominating map (stored in the territory map storage unit 102). Theculprit vessel is a blood vessel having a responsibility to supplynutrition to the ischemic region.

An FFR calculator 109 calculates, on a simulation base, an FFR value foreach narrow part extracted by the coronary artery analyzer 107. Morespecifically, first, the FFR calculator 109 calculates tissue bloodflows on the upstream and downstream of a narrow part for each narrowpart extracted by the coronary artery analyzer 107 based on the colormap generated by the cardiac muscle analyzer 106. The FFR calculator 109then divides the calculated downstream tissue blood flow by the upstreamtissue blood flow, thereby calculating the FFR of each narrow part.

The FFR is an example of a so-called pressure index. In addition, anindex representing a change in the blood flow with respect to the axialdirection of the blood vessel can be used as an index alternate to theFFR. For example, the connection position of a graft vessel can bedetermined using CFR (Coronary Flow Reserve). The CFR is the ratio ofthe blood flow in rest to the blood flow in maximum coronaryvasodilation, and is defined by

CFR=average pass time of thermal dilution curve in resting/average passtime of thermal dilution curve at the time of maximal hyperemia.

A culprit stenosis specifier 110 specifies, out of the narrow partsextracted by the coronary artery analyzer 107, a narrow part (to bereferred to as a culprit stenosis hereinafter) located on the inner wallof the culprit vessel specified by the culprit vessel specifier 108.That is, the culprit stenosis specifier 110 specifies, out of severalculprit stenosis candidates, a narrow part whose FFR is smaller than athreshold as a culprit stenosis.

A connection position determiner 113 determines a connection position(bypass portion) in the culprit vessel. That is, the connection positiondeterminer 113 determines an appropriate position of the joint of agraft vessel (bypass vessel) on the culprit vessel based on index valuessuch as an FFR drop level, the inner diameter of the blood vessel, andan elasticity coefficient (blood vessel elasticity).

A marker generator 111 generates the data of a marker used to visuallydisplay the connection position (determined by the connection positiondeterminer 113) in addition to the culprit vessel (specified by theculprit vessel specifier 108), the culprit stenosis (specified by theculprit stenosis specifier 110), the FFR (calculated by the FFRcalculator 109), and the culprit stenosis candidates (extracted by thecoronary artery analyzer 107). The marker can be a symbolic graphic suchas an arrow or a triangle, and can add a visual effect such as colormapping display or gradation.

A display controller 114 displays, on a display 112, a three-dimensionalimage generated from volume data by rendering or the like or atwo-dimensional image generated by multi-planar reconstruction. Thedisplay controller 114 displays, on the display 112, an image generatedby superimposing the marker generated by the marker generator 111 on thethree-dimensional image or two-dimensional image. The processingprocedure of the medical image processing apparatus 10 according to theembodiment will be described next.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure ofthe medical image processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1. Referring toFIG. 3, the controller 104 acquires time-series volume data over aplurality of phases concerning a chest region from the CT apparatus 20or PACS 50 via the communication interface 103 (step S1). The acquiredvolume data is written in the image storage unit 101.

Next, the heart region extraction unit 105 reads out volume data of apredetermined phase including a relatively small number of pulsationsfrom the image storage unit 101 under the control of the controller 104.The heart region extraction unit 105 extracts a heart region from thereadout volume data (step S2).

The coronary artery analyzer 107 executes coronary artery analysisprocessing for the heart region extracted by the heart region extractionunit 105 (steps S3 and S4). More specifically, the coronary arteryanalyzer 107 analyzes the anatomical structure of coronary arteries orthe plaque properties along the center line or internal wall of eachcoronary artery. Based on the result, the coronary artery analyzer 107extracts each coronary artery and a narrow part located on the innerwall of the coronary artery.

The coronary artery analyzer 107 then superimposes the anatomicalstructure of the coronary arteries on the heart form image, therebygenerating a three-dimensional image or two-dimensional image. Thegenerated three-dimensional image or two-dimensional image is displayedon the display 112. FIG. 4 shows an example of a three-dimensional imageg1 and an example of a two-dimensional image g2. The two-dimensionalimage g2 is, for example, a CPR (curved planar reconstruction) image.The user can arbitrarily set the timing of displaying the images g1 andg2 on the display 112. That is, the images can be displayed halfwaythrough the processing or together with the processing result.

Next, the cardiac muscle analyzer 106 executes cardiac muscle analysisprocessing (step S5). By threshold processing using a CT valuecorresponding to the contrast medium concentration, the cardiac muscleanalyzer 106 extracts a cardiac muscle region from the heart regionextracted by the heart region extraction unit 105.

The cardiac muscle analyzer 106 then performs CT perfusion analysisprocessing for the extracted cardiac muscle region (steps S6, S7, andS8). More specifically, the cardiac muscle analyzer 106 generates a timeconcentration curve concerning the contrast medium for each pixel (orfor each spot) in the extracted cardiac muscle region based on thetime-series volume data. The cardiac muscle analyzer 106 thencalculates, based on each time concentration curve, the blood flow thatmoves during the period from the inflow to the outflow of the contrastmedium for each pixel (or for each spot).

A color map g3 representing the spatial distribution of blood flowsshown in, for example, FIG. 5 is thus generated. The cardiac muscleanalyzer 106 extracts a region where the blood flow is less than apredetermined threshold as an ischemic region based on the generatedcolor map g3 (that is, the spatial distribution of calculated bloodflows).

The culprit vessel specifier 108 collates the specified ischemic regionwith the dominating map (for example, data shown in FIG. 2 which isstored in the territory map storage unit 102), thereby specifying aculprit vessel (step S9).

Based on the color map g3 generated by the cardiac muscle analyzer 106,the FFR calculator 109 calculates the tissue blood flow on thedownstream side of each narrow part and the tissue blood flow on theupstream side of each narrow part by an FFR simulation. Each narrow partis located on the inner wall of the culprit vessel specified by theculprit vessel specifier 108. The FFR calculator 109 divides thecalculated tissue blood flow on the downstream side of a narrow part bythe calculated tissue blood flow on the upstream side of the narrowpart, thereby calculating the FFR (step S10).

Next, the culprit stenosis specifier 110 specifies a narrow part whosePER calculated by the FFR calculator 109 is smaller than a threshold asa culprit stenosis (step S11). The connection position determiner 113determines a connection position on the downstream side of the culpritstenosis based on the FFR drop level, the inner diameter of the bloodvessel, the state of the blood vessel wall, and the like in the culpritvessel (step S12).

The display 112 displays a plurality of markers representing the culpritvessel 11, the culprit stenosis 12, and the FFR, which are generated bythe marker generator 111 and superimposed on a three-dimensional imageg4 or a two-dimensional image g5 derived from the volume data, as shownin, for example, FIGS. 6 and 7 (step S13). The Stenosis 13 is also shownin in FIG. 6. The territory map of culprit vessel 14 and the ischemicregion 15 may be shown in FIG. 6.

The display 112 also displays a marker representing the connectionposition, which is generated by the marker generator 111 andsuperimposed on the three-dimensional image g4 or the two-dimensionalimage g5 derived from the volume data, as shown in, for example, FIG. 8.

Note that in FIG. 8, since the inner diameter of the blood vessel on thedownstream side of the connection position is so thin (for example, 1.5mm or less) as not to satisfy the criterion, this portion is determinedas inappropriate to bypass and excluded from the color mapping displaytarget.

With the above-described arrangement, the connection position for CABGcan visually be presented to the user (for example, doctor), as shownin, for example, FIG. 8. Hence, the use can set the joint of the graftvessel to an appropriate portion. It is also possible to reduce thepossibility of human errors.

In this embodiment, the FFR calculator 109 calculates the FFR value bycalculation on a simulation base. That is, since no invasive instrumentsuch as a pressure wire is necessary, the burden on the patient at thetime of inspection can be reduced. In addition, the doctor cannoninvasively make the preoperative plan of CABG. Since the inspectionmethod is noninvasive, this embodiment is also effective for confirmingthe postoperative progress as follow-up.

Note that in this embodiment, FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 illustrate examples ofimages displayed by the display 112. However, images displayable by thedisplay 112 are not limited to these. For example, a CPR image shown inFIG. 9 or an SPR (stretched CPR) image shown in FIG. 10 can also bedisplayed on the display 112.

In the CPR image shown in FIG. 9, the FFR values are displayed by colormapping along a blood vessel. FFR values on the downstream side of amarker are lower than those on the upstream side of the marker but arestable. That is, the FFR drop level changes a little in region 16.Hence, this portion 17 is a connection position candidate. However, theinner diameter of the blood vessel is too small at the most downstreamportion (region 18), and therefore, this portion is inappropriate as theconnection position. The SPR image shown in FIG. 10 indicates the sameas described above. In FIG. 10, the region 19 may be a connectionposition candidate. In region 22, the FFR drop level changes a little.However, in region 21, the inner diameter of the blood vessel is toosmall at the most downstream portion.

The doctor can recognize the optimum connection position of the graftvessel before thoracotomy by referring to these images.

According to the medical image processing apparatus 10 of theembodiment, the connection position can further be narrowed down basedon the blood vessel elasticity as well. The elasticity coefficient is anindex representing a so-called blood vessel wall hardness. A bloodvessel whose elasticity coefficient is too low is too soft and mayrupture at the time of operation. Conversely, a blood vessel whoseelasticity coefficient is too high is too hard and may causearteriosclerosis. This blood vessel is also inappropriate as the jointof the graft vessel.

FIG. 11 is a view showing an example of a three-dimensional imagerepresenting that a region where the elasticity coefficient does notsatisfy the criterion is excluded from connection position candidates.The blood vessel elasticity is estimated by an FFR simulation of the FFRcalculator 109 or by analyzing data from 4D-CT. When the connectionposition is determined in consideration of this finding, it is possibleto avoid a portion that has an excellent FFR vale but is inappropriateas the joint of a blood vessel and also improve the treatment result.

According to the medical image processing apparatus 10 of theembodiment, details of the risk distribution at the connection positioncan be displayed by, for example, color mapping.

FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of a three-dimensional imagerepresenting a connection position including a risk distribution. Themedical image processing apparatus 10 according to the embodimentanalyzes CT volume data, thereby obtaining various risk factors such asthe FFR, the inner diameter of a blood vessel, the state of a bloodvessel wall, and the positional relationship between a blood vessel anda narrow Part.

The display controller 114 displays a risk distribution including therisk factors on the display 112 while using different colors for therespective items at the connection position. This display method allowsthe doctor to recognize, at a glance, detailed information representingthat, for example, a portion is safe but is not absolutely recommendedas a connection position. The risks may be converted into scores, andcolors corresponding to the scores may be mapped on the screen.

According to the medical image processing apparatus 10 of theembodiment, it is also possible to display the connection position incombination with another index.

FIG. 13 is a view showing an example of an SPR image that displays anFFR value and the inner diameter of a blood vessel in combination with aconnection position. The image shown in FIG. 13 is displayed on thedisplay 112 mainly under the control of the display controller 114. Asshown in FIG. 13, the FFR values and the inner diameters of a bloodvessel are expressed along a blood vessel as graphs in combination ofthe display of the connection position. The graph of the solid linerepresents the inner diameter of the blood vessel. The graph of thedotted line represents the FFR. Only one of the graphs may be displayed.

When various kinds of information are displayed in accordance with theSPR image, a lot of pieces of information can be notified to the doctor.It is also possible to add information (thickness, hardness level,plaque thickness, and the like) about the blood vessel wall.

According to the medical image processing apparatus 10 of theembodiment, when an input of selection of a culprit vessel, culpritstenosis, or connection position is received from an input interface(not shown) such as a mouse, keyboard, or touch panel upon displaying adesired three-dimensional image on the display 112, thethree-dimensional image can automatically be rotated to an angle easy toobserve the selected culprit vessel, culprit stenosis, or connectionposition.

Hence, according to the embodiment, it is possible to provide a medicalimage processing apparatus capable of accurately showing an appropriateconnection position.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-describedembodiment. For example, in the embodiment, CABG for coronary arteriesof a heart has been considered. The present invention can be applied tothe preoperative plan of all diseases in a cerebral artery or otherarteries to which a blood vessel bypass operation is applicable.

In the embodiment, the FFR calculator 109 calculates an FFR by theabove-described calculation method. However, the FFR calculation methodis not limited to this. Any method capable of calculating an FFRcorresponding to each narrow part can appropriately be applied as theFFR calculation method used by the FFR calculator 109. For example, thesimulation need not always be a 2D simulation but may be a 3Dsimulation.

In the embodiment, an FFR is calculated by an FFR simulation. Instead,an FFR obtained by the Gradient-method may be used. The Gradient-methoduses the possibility that a blood flow and a CT value correlate witheach other. This method can be an effective method for obtaining aquantitative value such as an FFR depending on future studies.

The functions explained in the above embodiment can be implemented byone or a plurality of processing units. The processing units can be, forexample, dedicated or general-purpose processor, circuit (circuitry),processing circuit (circuitry), operation circuit (circuitry),arithmetic circuit (circuitry), or Application Specific IntegratedCircuit (ASIC), Simple Programmable Logic Device (SPLD), ComplexProgrammable Logic Device (CPLD), and Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA).

Each processing unit may be implemented as a processor including anelectronic circuit such as a memory. The processing unit can include aprocessor that functions by a program stored in a memory. The processingunit can include an application specific integrated circuit (IC) or aconventional circuit element to execute the above-described functions.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described hereinmay be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodimentsdescribed herein may be made without departing from the spirit of theinventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intendedto cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope andspirit of the inventions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:receiving a three-dimensional image regarding coronary arteries in acardiac region and perfusion information regarding a cardiac muscle inthe cardiac region; extracting an ischemic region regarding the cardiacmuscle based on the perfusion information; extracting a plurality ofcoronary arteries from the three-dimensional image; automaticallydetermining a target vessel among the extracted coronary arteries basedon a positional relationship between the extracted ischemic region andthe extracted coronary arteries; calculating a distribution of apressure index of a blood flow in the target vessel; and automaticallydetermining a position to joint a bypass vessel on the target vesselbased on the distribution of the pressure index at the target vessel. 2.The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the position basedon a drop level of the pressure index.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising determining the position based on an inner diameter of thetarget vessel.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising determiningthe position based on an inner diameter of the target vessel.
 5. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising determining the position based onan elasticity coefficient of the target vessel.
 6. The method of claim1, further comprising causing a display to display the determinedposition.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising causing thedisplay to display at least one of a first graph representing thepressure index corresponding to the position and a second graphrepresenting an inner diameter of the blood vessel corresponding to theposition.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising causing thedisplay to display at least one of the first graph and the second graphtogether with an image in which the position is visualized.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: calculating a degree of fitnesswhen the bypass vessel is jointed to a predetermined portion of theblood vessel; and causing a display to display a distribution of thedegree of fitness at the predetermined portion.
 10. The method of claim1, wherein the pressure index comprises a myocardial fractional flowreserve.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: extracting acardiac muscle region from the three-dimensional image in each of aplurality of phases; and calculating perfusion information based on theextracted cardiac muscle regions.
 12. A non-transitory computer readablemedium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause aprocessor to: receive a three-dimensional image regarding coronaryarteries in a cardiac region and perfusion information regarding acardiac muscle in the cardiac region; extract an ischemic regionregarding the cardiac muscle based on the perfusion information; extracta plurality of coronary arteries from the three-dimensional image;automatically determine a target vessel among the extracted coronaryarteries based on a positional relationship between the extractedischemic region and the extracted coronary arteries; calculate adistribution of a pressure index of a blood flow in the target vessel;and automatically determine a position to joint a bypass vessel on thetarget vessel based on the distribution of the pressure index at thetarget vessel.
 13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim12, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determinethe position based on a drop level of the pressure index.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein theinstructions further cause the processor to determine the position basedon an inner diameter of the target vessel.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions furthercause the processor to determine the position based on an inner diameterof the target vessel.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the processor todetermine the position based on an elasticity coefficient of the targetvessel.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12,wherein the instructions further cause the processor to cause a displayto display the determined position.
 18. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause theprocessor to cause the display to display at least one of a first graphrepresenting the pressure index corresponding to the position and asecond graph representing an inner diameter of the blood vesselcorresponding to the position.
 19. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 18, wherein the instructions further cause the processorto cause the display to display at least one of the first graph and thesecond graph together with an image in which the position is visualized.20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein theinstructions further cause the processor to: calculate a degree offitness when the bypass vessel is jointed to a predetermined portion ofthe blood vessel; and cause a display to display a distribution of thedegree of fitness at the predetermined portion.
 21. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the pressure indexcomprises a myocardial fractional flow reserve.
 22. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions furthercause the processor to: extract a cardiac muscle region from thethree-dimensional image in each of a plurality of phases; and calculateperfusion information based on the extracted cardiac muscle regions. 23.A medical image processing apparatus, comprising: processing circuitryconfigured to receive a three-dimensional image regarding coronaryarteries in a cardiac region; extract a plurality of coronary arteriesfrom the three-dimensional image; automatically determine a targetvessel among the extracted coronary arteries based on a positionalrelationship between an ischemic region regarding a cardiac muscle inthe cardiac region and the extracted coronary arteries; andautomatically determine a position to joint a bypass vessel on thetarget vessel based on a distribution of a pressure index of a bloodflow in the target vessel.
 24. The medical image processing apparatus ofclaim 23, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured toreceive perfusion information regarding the cardiac muscle; and extractthe ischemic region based on the perfusion information.
 25. The medicalimage processing apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processing circuitryis further configured to calculate the distribution of the pressureindex of the blood flow in the target vessel.
 26. The medical imageprocessing apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processing circuitry isfurther configured to determine the position based on a drop level ofthe pressure index.
 27. The medical image processing apparatus of claim23, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to determinethe position based on an inner diameter of the target vessel.
 28. Themedical image processing apparatus of claim 26, wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to determine the position based on aninner diameter of the target vessel.
 29. The medical image processingapparatus of claim 26, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to determine the position based on an elasticity coefficientof the target vessel.
 30. The medical image processing apparatus ofclaim 23, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured tocause a display to display the determined position.
 31. The medicalimage processing apparatus of claim 30, wherein the processing circuitryis further configured to cause the display to display at least one of afirst graph representing the pressure index corresponding to theposition and a second graph representing an inner diameter of the bloodvessel corresponding to the position.
 32. The medical image processingapparatus of claim 31, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigure to cause the display to display at least one of the firstgraph and the second graph together with an image in which the positionis visualized.
 33. The medical image processing apparatus of claim 23,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to calculate adegree of fitness when the bypass vessel is jointed to a predeterminedportion of the blood vessel, and the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to cause a display to display a distribution of the degree offitness at the predetermined portion.
 34. The medical image processingapparatus of claim 23, wherein the pressure index comprises a myocardialfractional flow reserve.
 35. The medical image processing apparatus ofclaim 23, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured toextract a cardiac muscle region from the three-dimensional image in eachof a plurality of phases; and calculate the perfusion information basedon the extracted cardiac muscle regions.
 36. A computer implementedmethod comprising: receiving a three-dimensional image regardingcoronary arteries in a cardiac region; extracting a plurality ofcoronary arteries from the three-dimensional image; automaticallydetermining a target vessel among the extracted coronary arteries basedon a positional relationship between an ischemic region regarding acardiac muscle in the cardiac region and the extracted coronaryarteries; automatically determining a position to joint a bypass vesselon the target vessel based on a distribution of a pressure index of ablood flow in the target vessel.
 37. A non-transitory computer readablemedium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause aprocessor to: receive a three-dimensional image regarding coronaryarteries in a cardiac region; extract a plurality of coronary arteriesfrom the three-dimensional image; automatically determine a targetvessel among the extracted coronary arteries based on a positionalrelationship between an ischemic region regarding a cardiac muscle inthe cardiac region and the extracted coronary arteries; automaticallydetermine a position to joint a bypass vessel on the target vessel basedon a distribution of a pressure index of a blood flow in the targetvessel.